Fireworks
by zelda49
Summary: [light BB, post season 1] Brennan and Booth celebrate Independence Day.


A/N: Another short little piece of fluff here for you. I'm planning a longer series, I think, but I went to the Fourth of July fireworks in Washington, DC and could practically _see_ Brennan and Booth on the Mall with me, so here they are before I get to the series. For those of you that have never been there, check out the Wikipedia entry for the National Mall. It explains the place so much better than I could, and even provides pictures :-)

* * *

Booth called, striding across the nearly empty lab. "Hey Bones!" 

Brennan popped out of her office, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Booth? What's wrong?"

He jogged the last few steps to her and came to a stop, flashing her a crooked smile. "Nothing's wrong," he replied. "I just didn't know where you were."

"Oh." She looked him over discreetly, wondering why he was standing outside her office at 8:30 at night in blue jeans and a t-shirt. "So…what? Do we have a case?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not tonight, at least."

"Then…why are you here?"

"I was hoping," he said, leaning casually against the doorframe, "that I could pry you away from this lab for a few minutes to go celebrate with me."

"Celebrate?"

"Yeah Bones, Fourth of July…Independence Day…the day our country became a country…"

Realization dawned over her face. "And they're having a big festival out on the Mall."

"Yeah," he grinned, "the National Symphony Orchestra is playing, there are tents set up with all kinds of food, and the fireworks start in a few minutes."

"I have work to finish," she said automatically.

He shook his head. "Nope, that's not gonna cut it tonight, Bones. This is my favorite holiday…and you need a break."

Booth's brown eyes shone with the pride of a military man as he spoke and Brennan began to understand how important this was to him. "Okay," she decided. "I can take a break."

"Really?" He had expected her to put up a fight, and was slightly amazed when she didn't. He pushed away the long list of arguments he had constructed and clapped his hands together, rubbing them vigorously. "Alright then, let's go!"

He reigned in his enthusiasm long enough for her to grab her keys and ID, watching her close her office door behind her and smiling broadly. She allowed him to guide her out of the lab, his hand resting comfortably in its place on the small of her back. When they hit the rain-cooled air outside, though, his pace quickened and she did her best to keep up with him.

The pair breezed though the security checkpoint along the perimeter of the National Mall and found themselves lost inside a crush of people looking for the best possible place to watch the show.

Booth leaned down close to her ear. "Stick close, Bones," he said, taking her hand in his. "If I lose you, I'll never find you again in this crowd." He took the lead, weaving his way though the throng, hunting for an empty patch of ground.

A family walked together down the sandy pedestrian road, the mother pushing a large double stroller between Brennan and Booth, separating them briefly. He stopped and looked back, his eyes searching the sea of bodies for his partner.

"Bones?"

She slid her hand into his and squeezed reassuringly. "I'm here," she answered, dodging a tourist with a huge camera.

He nodded, relieved, and squeezed back, his head swiveling forward again. The light was bleeding from the sky as the sun dropped below the horizon, and Booth knew the fireworks display was going to begin soon, but there wasn't a single place to sit. "Do you mind if we stand?" he asked, stopping and leaning close to her again.

"That's fine," Brennan replied. "I've been sitting down all evening anyway."

He flashed her his "charm smile" and went back to navigating through the mob, missing the girlish giggle she didn't quite succeed in supressing. At last their feet found grass, and Booth stopped just off the beaten path next to a large, leafy green tree. "This should be okay."

People continued to push past them, and he pulled Brennan in front of him so she would be out of the way. Shifting his weight against the tree and sliding his arm around her, his hand came to rest on her elbow, protecting her from the jostling masses.

The first rocked crackled in the air, followed by another, then another, exploding in a showcase of colors and shapes, and their eyes were drawn upward. "Perfect," he grinned.

Brennan glanced up at her partner, noting the same proud light in his eyes that had shone so intensely in the lab, trying to understand its source. She was patriotic, sure, and thankful every day that she lived in a country where she was free to say and do and believe what she chose. So many people in so many of the places she had visited didn't have those rights, and she knew how lucky she was. But there was something else in Booth's eyes.

"This is really your favorite holiday?" she asked quietly in the hush that had fallen over the crowd.

He smiled softly and nodded. "Yeah. Christmas is a _really_ close second because I get to spend it with Parker, but this one's my favorite."

She hesitated to ask her next question, knowing it was a delicate subject and that she was decidedly _not_ delicate. "Is it because you were a Ranger?"

When he didn't answer right away she thought she had crossed the invisible line into the tactlessness he was always scolding her about. Brennan opened her mouth to continue, but Booth stopped her.

"I think," he said philosophically, "that I was a Ranger because this is my favorite holiday. Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be in the military like my dad, to defend my country…and to have a really cool job."

His eyes twinkled playfully down at her as he spoke the last phrase, and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Wasn't there something you always wanted to be when you were a kid?" he asked curiously.

Brennan shifted her gaze back to the fireworks display and sighed. "All I wanted after my parents disappeared was to be cared for."

His breath was warm on her neck as he bent his head down and whispered in her ear. "You are."

For a moment she wanted to look at him—to examine him—to see for herself the mocking expression he must be wearing. But her heart swelled at his words, responding to the warm tone of his voice, telling her brain, for once, to be quiet.

Booth tightened his hold on her, wrapping his other arm around her waist and pulling her against him. He was pleasantly surprised when she relaxed in his embrace, leaning her head against his chest as they trained their eyes on the Washington Monument, brightly lit against the dark night, shell after shell exploding vibrantly behind it.

"This was a good idea, Booth," she smiled.

He returned her smile contentedly. "Thanks Bones."


End file.
